


When Things Get Started

by certkpopjunkie



Series: Crossroads [2]
Category: EXO (Band), 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Anal Sex, Developing Relationship, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Light Angst, Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Pining, Romance, Series, Sex, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 08:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21133811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/certkpopjunkie/pseuds/certkpopjunkie
Summary: Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun make a deal and start to become more than just friends.





	1. The Build Up

**Author's Note:**

> AFF: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1474318  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/certkpopjunkie
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

Chanyeol is Baekhyun's first real love.  Baekhyun is also Chanyeol’s first real love. Baekhyun never dated anyone seriously until Chanyeol, his first relationships either being too short or fake. Unlike the other football players, Baekhyun didn’t sleep around. The girls who threw themselves at him were of no interest to him. Chanyeol, on the other hand, had gotten around a lot. He never seemed to question anything remotely sexual, letting himself fall into bed with whatever girl was daring enough to really pursue him. Despite this, Baekhyun had never felt jealous  over it until right after his first relationship fell apart.

He was distraught over the break-up for multiple reasons. Chanyeol believed he was upset because of the break-up itself, but Baekhyun was actually alright with  Hwasa breaking up with him. What actually tore Baekhyun up was the fact that he didn’t care, the fact that he was relieved. He hadn’t felt attracted to  Hwasa enough to feel sad about not being with her anymore. He’d never felt particularly attracted to girls and  Hwasa had seemed like his last chance. He didn’t want to accept it, mostly because he believed his family and friends wouldn’t be supportive. He was also upset because without Hwasa, he had no girlfriend to rub in Chanyeol's face, but that was kind of fine because Chanyeol wasn't bothered at all, anyway.

Chanyeol didn’t know how Baekhyun felt, and he certainly didn’t know that Baekhyun might have been developing a crush on him for a few years. Baekhyun had started noticing it in eighth grade, but he’d been actively trying to push it away by pursuing girls, and, most recently,  Hwasa . As his best friend, Chanyeol was right beside him through the pain, even if he didn’t really know what was causing it, and it made Baekhyun feel so _happy_.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Baekhyun had his best friend’s attention. One Friday, Chanyeol was succeeding in taking Baekhyun’s mind off of  Hwasa , or, rather, his failure to be attracted to  Hwasa . They laughed and talked as much as possible and Chanyeol told him about how annoying his parents were. Baekhyun didn’t want it to end, the almost carefree feeling he got  carrying on through the football game, which they won, that night. Chanyeol just continued cracking jokes and getting him to smile. However, when they returned to the locker rooms, it became clear Chanyeol was determined to bed one of the cheerleaders that night. The girl he had his eyes on  in particular was Seohyun. Baekhyun knew all about Seohyun’s reputation with guys at school, so he was sure Chanyeol, of all people, wouldn’t have any trouble. He wasn’t surprised when Chanyeol informed him of the incident between himself and Seohyun in the back of his car. Baekhyun didn’t ask how far they went, but Chanyeol continued to imply that the experience had been good. 

For the rest of the week, Chanyeol continued to see Seohyun in secret, since Taeyeon would kill her if she found out Seohyun was seeing the guy who was off-limits. Every time Chanyeol talked about her, and he did often, Baekhyun would get increasingly more aggravated. He kept telling himself that Chanyeol didn’t owe him every single waking moment in order to help him through the break-up that he didn’t actually care about. He didn’t understand why he felt so angry and betrayed. Now that Baekhyun was so wrapped up in jealousy over Chanyeol, there wasn’t any room left for  Hwasa . He spent his time trying to hang out with Chanyeol as much as possible and when Chanyeol would inevitably leave to see Seohyun, Baekhyun would either get sad or irritated, depending on his  mood, and stew until Chanyeol returned. 

Eventually, he cracked, pushed off the edge when Chanyeol suddenly stood up in the middle of their game after seeing the time on his phone. “Baek, I’ve gotta go. Seohyun and I are supposed to—”

“Please, don’t finish that sentence.” Baekhyun interrupted, holding up a hand at the same time. 

Chanyeol cocked his head to the side in confusion and interest, sitting back down and scooting his chair closer to Baekhyun’s. If Baekhyun didn’t know any better, he’d have thought Chanyeol was only seeing Seohyun so often just to make him jealous... but that would be crazy. “Why not?” A smirk played at the edge of his lips, threatening to send butterflies fluttering in Baekhyun’s stomach. _Why are there butterflies?_

Quickly, Baekhyun thought of an answer. “It’s just annoying...” he mumbled, standing up and walking over to his bed, promptly flopping down onto the covers and burying his face in a fluffy pillow. He didn’t want to face Chanyeol.

His thoughts were spinning. _Why is it annoying? What’s my problem? He can do whatever – and whoever – he wants. It’s not like he’s mine._He laughed, but not because anything was funny. _Chanyeol, mine? Chanyeol’s my best friend and that’s that. Nothing more. He doesn’t care about me in a different way._His eyebrows came closer together in irritation. _But why is that annoying? Why do I want him to be mine?_His eyes widened, and he was thankful Chanyeol couldn’t hear his thoughts or see his face. _He’s a guy. I’m a guy. What the hell am I thinking?_

“Why is it annoying?” Chanyeol asked, reiterating one of the questions flitting through Baekhyun’s mind. “Do you not like her?”

“It’s not that. I just...” Baekhyun trailed off, not knowing how to tell Chanyeol what was going through his head and not wanting to make up a fake answer. A part of him knew exactly why Chanyeol’s relationship with Seohyun bothered him, but the other part of him thought he was being ridiculous. Wouldn’t he have known sooner? And even if he did, Chanyeol was _way_too interested in girls to ever be interested in him.

“What is it, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol’s voice was closer now, deep and resonating under Baekhyun’s skin. He almost sounded tender. He shivered involuntarily, wanting to slap himself because this is his _best friend_.

The mattress dipped, along with Baekhyun’s stomach, and he rolled slightly so his back was resting against Chanyeol’s chest. His eyes bulged, almost painfully, and he started trying to scramble away. Before he got very far, Chanyeol grabbed him by the waist and pulled him back to lay flush against his own body once more. Baekhyun prayed Chanyeol couldn’t feel how fast his heart was pumping, hoped he couldn’t see the blush creeping up to his face.

“Chanyeol, let go of  me. ” he whined, trying to seem playful and hide how intensely nervous this close proximity, on a bed, to  Chanyeol was making him.

“Not until you tell me what your issue with Seohyun is. Do you not want me to see her?” Chanyeol asked, bringing his face close to Baekhyun’s ear, so close that Baekhyun could feel the warm puffs of breath Chanyeol was letting out  against the back of his neck. Goosebumps raced up his spine, making him shiver again. 

Before he could stop himself, Baekhyun answered Chanyeol, saying, “Not really.” Upon hearing Baekhyun’s answer, Chanyeol laughed, moving his leg up slightly and bringing his knee up to rest right in between Baekhyun’s legs. He may not have realized it, but this only made Baekhyun blush harder, immediately realizing how much he wanted to be able to grind back against that knee.

“Why not?”

“I mean, do you really like her?” Now he sounded as jealous as he felt. 

“Oh, Baekhyun...” Chanyeol casually brought his cheek down to rest  against the back of Baekhyun’s head, burying his nose in the freshly washed dark blonde hair. As usual, the football team had passed around a few slips of paper at random, each reading a different, probably abnormal, hair color. Every other game, the team always dyed their hair crazy colors and kept it that way  until the next dye job. This week, Baekhyun had drawn blonde and Chanyeol drew red, as he often does.

“What?”

“Why are you asking questions like that?” Chanyeol sighed, blowing air on Baekhyun’s skin again, causing another round of goosebumps to  raise on his skin. 

“Would you stop doing that? It’s annoying.” Baekhyun snapped, trying once more to free himself from Chanyeol. The movement only caused Chanyeol’s fingers to dig into the skin of Baekhyun’s hips harder, pulling him even harder against himself. From this more intense position, Baekhyun could really feel what was beneath Chanyeol’s sweatpants. He bit his lip to keep from sighing, loving this and hating it at the same time.

“Doing what?” That deep voice was back in Baekhyun’s ear, almost craning over to see Baekhyun’s face. 

“You keep breathing on my  neck. ” he answered, turning to escape Chanyeol’s eyes and burying his nose in a pillow.

The giant wasn’t going to allow Baekhyun to shy away now, desperately wanting to hear what was on his best friend’s mind. He sat up and climbed on top of Baekhyun, pinning his legs down  against the bed and placing his hands on both of his shoulders. Looking down at the boy beneath him, Chanyeol finally saw the redness painting Baekhyun’s face. Seeing this, the tips of his ears grew hotter. “What is that for?” His own heart started beating faster.

“What is what for?” Baekhyun asked, trying to move his arms so he could cover his face.

“Why are you... red?” He didn’t want to say ‘blushing’ because that would make the implications even clearer. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t get his hopes up. For years, Baekhyun had been his best friend and Chanyeol wasn’t going to ruin that because he might suddenly have feelings for him.

“Because you’re touching me!” Baekhyun blurted, his eyes going wide  at his own words. Chanyeol’s own eyes got wide as well, finally realizing he was absentmindedly grinding down on the beginnings of arousal in Baekhyun’s pants. “Would you get off?”

“Not until you tell me why you’re so annoyed by Seohyun.”

“I’m not annoyed by Seohyun, I’m annoyed that you’re with her.” the boy finally relented, squeezing his eyes shut in what seemed to be  embarrassment . “I’m jealous, okay? I don’t like it.” At that, Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol off of himself and all but ran into the bathroom across the hall. Chanyeol just laid on the bed, thinking about their conversation and deciding he could probably push Baekhyun a bit further toward the edge, enough so they would both fall off of it. He decided he liked feeling Baekhyun underneath him. So he began formulating a plan in his mind as he left Baekhyun’s house to meet Seohyun. Using Seohyun to make Baekhyun jealous was definitely working, but he needed something more concrete...

He would drop the topic for that day, but he would find a way to get to Baekhyun. He wanted to be sure that Baekhyun felt the same before he confessed and possibly ruined their friendship forever.


	2. The Agreement

“Look, Baek, we’ve been friends for a long time and we’ve always been able to help each other out.”

Baekhyun wasn’t sure where Chanyeol was heading with this, but he could tell his best friend was more than a little nervous about asking. So Baekhyun kept his face as neutral as possible to make sure he wasn’t adding any unnecessary pressure to the situation.

“You’re really down about Hwasa breaking things off with you, so you need a distraction. I, on the other hand, just want to have a little… fun. No strings attached.”

If Baekhyun had been confused before, he was even more so now. But he made himself wait patiently for Chanyeol to get to the point without interrupting him first.

“The ‘no strings attached’ business doesn’t really work well with most girls. That’s why I wanted to ask you if I could be your distraction from Hwasa while you be my ‘no strings attached’ deal.”

This last sentence came out of Chanyeol’s mouth quickly, a string of words that Baekhyun heard loud and clear. And he was scared shitless.

“You mean… a friends with benefits kind of thing?” he asked quietly, his eyes wide and seemingly innocent.

“If you wanna put it that way, yeah. We know each other really well and we’re just friends. I don’t see the harm in just… being there for each other.”

The tips of Chanyeol’s ears were red as blood, most likely out of nervousness concerning being rejected. Though it could also be sheer embarrassment for actually suggesting such a thing to his best friend, someone he’d known since elementary school.

Baekhyun’s mind was blank, other than the thought of possibly turning his friendship with Chanyeol into something completely different. He was sure Chanyeol knew how bad an idea it was, yet he was still asking. Which meant he might be open to the relationship becoming more than just a friendship with a little “fun” thrown in here and there.

It would serve its purpose, though; Baekhyun definitely wouldn’t be thinking of Hwasa because he would instead be thinking of all the ways this arrangement could turn sour and destroy what he had with Chanyeol.

As bad an idea as it was, though, Baekhyun would still agree, because he’d been thinking a lot about Chanyeol lately, even before Hwasa cut him off. If he was honest, he chased her so much because he needed someone to keep him from thinking about Chanyeol. Now he was going to use Chanyeol to keep him from thinking about Hwasa. He was so down about Hwasa because finally catching her hadn’t been what he’d wanted it to be. He didn’t feel anything but love for her, the kind of love someone has for a friend. He wasn’t attracted to her. She was another girl he didn’t feel anything romantic or sexual toward. And he couldn’t deny the way he felt about Chanyeol very much, not when he was about to agree to put himself in such a precarious situation. If that wasn’t the stupidest thing he’d ever even considered doing, he didn’t know what was.

But he was finally getting to experiment on Chanyeol in a way that it was somehow completely platonic.

He would deny his feelings for Chanyeol for as long as he could, until it became unbearable, because he was sure Chanyeol didn’t feel the same.

That, however, was so wrong.


	3. The Emotions

After they had been using each other for a few weeks, there was finally a moment when Baekhyun was convinced Chanyeol depended on their time together. He didn’t know if it was something emotional or if he really was able to just block everything else out of his mind.

He’d had a fight with his parents, arguing about college and plans for the future. Chanyeol wanted one thing and his parents wanted something else. He wanted to pursue a career in music, but his mother and father refuse to support him in his dreams.

So Chanyeol came over to Baekhyun’s house, preparing to sleep over and stay away from his own house for a day or two. Of course, things weren’t the way they used to be between the two boys.

When he first got to Baekhyun’s house, Chanyeol threw all of his stuff down in the floor of Baekhyun’s room and climbed onto the bed, where he trapped the smaller boy between his strong arms.

He didn’t say anything about the reason he’d come over, but Baekhyun could tell something was wrong. This became even clearer when Chanyeol started snuggling up to Baekhyun, which never happened because this wasn’t emotional. His head was right beside the other’s, his hair tickling the side of Baekhyun’s face.

Neither of them spoke, Chanyeol not wanting to talk and Baekhyun knowing exactly how he felt. He was just grateful Chanyeol’s head was pressed against the side of his own head instead of lying on his chest, so he didn’t hear how hard Baekhyun’s heart was beating. Baekhyun brought his hands up to run through Chanyeol’s hair, tugging just slightly.

This action seemed to pull something out of his friend, because soon he was mumbling into the pillow next to Baekhyun’s ear. “I don’t know what to do, Baek. Why do they have to make things so hard? I don’t want to become some boring doctor with a stick up my ass.”

“A doctor?” Baekhyun could not picture Chanyeol as a doctor.

“Yeah,” he huffed, still not moving. “Since dad’s one, they want me to go to medical school, too.”

“Don’t worry about it, Chanyeol. It’ll work out.” His words weren’t very thought out or convincing, but that’s because he felt the same way. His parents wanted him to be something he didn’t want to be, as well. He felt just as hopeless.

Baekhyun felt a slight wetness on his shoulder and immediately tensed, out of his comfort zone. It wasn’t often (almost never, actually) that Chanyeol cried. Usually Baekhyun was the one crying, his emotions often getting the better of him.

Uncomfortable, he did the only thing he knew he could do for Chanyeol to take his mind off of the future, which ended up being rubbing his knee at the other’s crotch. He felt the taller breathe out and become more pliant on top of him. The tugs on Chanyeol’s hair became just a bit harder as Baekhyun continued to put pressure on his nether-regions.

Soon, Chanyeol was practically humping Baekhyun’s leg, sighing and gripping his shoulders. He kept mouthing at Baekhyun’s neck, which Baekhyun was pretty sure counted as kissing, but he didn’t say anything. When Chanyeol gently bit his skin and sucked on the same spot to soothe it, he couldn’t stop himself from moaning. He immediately started blushing, which is when Chanyeol finally brought his head up to look Baekhyun in the eyes. His face still looked a little sad, but, unbeknownst to Baekhyun, it wasn’t about his parents anymore.

After the little moan escaped his lips, Chanyeol brought his hand down to palm at Baekhyun’s own erection. He rolled his hips up into Chanyeol’s touch, his face getting even hotter. He felt breathless, looking up into Chanyeol’s eyes.

A minute later, both of them were completely naked. They’d done this before, had seen each other with no clothes on, but they both knew this was heading in a slightly different direction this time. And they were both needy and lost in each other and curious.


	4. The Hotel Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... I guess I've always had a thing for Chanyeol calling Baekhyun 'hyung'... This took an unexpected turn.

They were just lying in the bed in the room they were sharing with D.O and Sehun. The entire football team and the cheer squad were staying in a hotel at the beach for finals. Baekhyun was scrolling through his social media, liking people’s posts without really looking at what they were about. Chanyeol, on the other hand, was just looking up at the ceiling, not really thinking about anything in particular.

D.O and Sehun were both out on the town with the rest of the group, since everyone wanted to see how good the partying scene was here. Baekhyun and Chanyeol opted to stay in, their excuse being that they were too tired. Both of them knew this wasn’t the real reason, but none of the other guys had any reason to doubt them.

“You know,” Chanyeol mused. “So many people have probably fucked on this bed.”

“Ew. Why do I want to think about that?” Baekhyun asked, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

“Do you think they wash the sheets after every visit, or do they just make the bed all nice and neat?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to make his best friend uncomfortable.

“I don’t know. I would hope the sheets are washed.”

“I bet they’re not.”

“You’re probably right… but I don’t wanna think about it.” So he went back to scrolling on his phone.

Chanyeol huffed, pursing his lips and staring at Baekhyun. When the other boy didn’t show any signs of acknowledging this, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s phone and placed it on the table next to the bed. Baekhyun tried to get it back, but Chanyeol blocked him, quickly climbing on top of the smaller boy and straddling his hips. “_Hyung_, why are you ignoring me?”

“I didn’t realize I was ignoring you. And since when do you call me ‘hyung’?” Baekhyun furrowed his brow.

“You _are_older than me, so why wouldn’t I?” Chanyeol asked, cocking his head to the side, trying his best to look confused. He placed both of his hands on Baekhyun’s chest.

“Because I think we’re kinda past the point of using honorifics…? I’ve known you since we were in elementary school. You’re my best friend, and you haven’t called me ‘hyung’ in years… What are you trying to…?”

“I just wanted your attention.” Chanyeol admitted, grinning at the pace of Baekhyun’s heartbeat.

“Well, you’ve got it. What do you want?” Baekhyun said quickly, not used to Chanyeol climbing on top of him. Usually, he was the one straddling Chanyeol because he was smaller, lighter. He didn’t dislike it, but he didn’t know why it was happening. Even if he wouldn't admit it to Chanyeol, Baekhyun was enjoying this because he knew he wouldn't be able to escape. He was trapped and at Chanyeol's mercy.

Chanyeol shifted a little, making himself more comfortable. His hands were still on Baekhyun’s chest, so he could feel the intake of breath and the rapid heartbeat. He could see Baekhyun’s brows come together and his eyes flutter slightly. He could see the color flushing over Baekhyun’s face. Finally, he’d hit the spot. When his friend didn’t say anything about the change in atmosphere, Chanyeol continued moving around, trying to pass it off as trying to get comfortable, but really just grinding down on Baekhyun’s crotch.

“Chanyeol…” he breathed, trying to bring his hands up to push the giant off, but failing because Chanyeol quickly caught his hands and pinned them down against the mattress. “Chanyeol, D.O and Sehun could be back-”

“They just left an hour ago. I doubt they’ll be done so quickly.” He shook his head and kept grinding against Baekhyun’s cock. Baekhyun let out whimpers. "You're not too hard to convince, are you?" Chanyeol teased, watching as Baekhyun tried to move out from under him, but only succeeding in roughly pressing their clothed cocks together. Chanyeol groaned lowly, and Baekhyun let out a small shout. 

"I don't have much choice, do I?" Baekhyun retorted, giving up his small rebellion quickly. His arms were still pinned down on the mattress above his head, so he couldn't even tease Chanyeol in any way. To speed up the process just a bit, he thrusted up in time with the way Chanyeol was grinding down on him, not because he needed it any harder, but in the chance that it would get a rise out of the taller. 

Chanyeol quickly recognized the game they were beginning to play. Both of them were trying to get the other to cave, to beg for it, but Chanyeol knew he had the upper hand. Baekhyun was only getting himself wound up. He knew they would continue this for a few more minutes, not much longer, but in order to speed it up, he let go of one of Baekhyun's wrists and brought it to his chest, pinching one of the older boy's nipples. This earned him a high-pitched gasp. 

Now that Baekhyun had a hand free, he was going to use it to his advantage. He reached up, fighting Chanyeol's grip on his other wrist and the way he was pressing down on his chest, and grabbed Chanyeol by the back of his neck, yanking him down towards his own face hard. Baekhyun knew this was teasing just a bit too much, since they both knew Baekhyun refused to kiss Chanyeol or be kissed by Chanyeol, but it had to be done. Chanyeol was surprised, taken off-guard with excitement at the possibility of locking lips with Baekhyun. The older used this to his advantage and flipped them over in Chanyeol's moment of weakness. Quickly, so as not to lose his window, Baekhyun started grinding down on Chanyeol, and tweaking both of his nipples at the same time. Chanyeol bit back a moan, closing his eyes. In one last effort, Baekhyun brought his hand down to the bulge in Chanyeol's pants and squeezed slightly. 

"Baekhyun!" Chanyeol exclaimed, his eyes popping open wide and his face and ears blooming red.

Baekhyun just smirked down at the younger boy, not letting up on him one bit. Using his words from before, Baekhyun said, "Now, will you be good for hyung?"

Chanyeol's face got even redder, along with his ears, and he nodded, embarrassed, turned on, and a little miffed that he'd lost. But he was definitely good to his hyung.


	5. The Hot Tub

“No, no, no, we do not mix hot tubs with alcohol. Someone could get hurt or overheat or something.”

“Suho hyung, you telling us not to drink in a hot tub is like saying we can’t breathe in the ocean air. What’s a beach trip without booze in the hottest area of the pool house?” Chanyeol argued, popping cans open and handing them around to everyone, ignoring the captain of the team.

“We won’t do anything stupid, hyung.” Sehun laughed, knowing full-well they were always capable of doing something stupid.

Knowing he wasn’t going to convince them to leave the alcohol out of their pool time, he reluctantly agreed. “Ugh, fine, but if you guys start getting too tipsy, I’m going to put a stop to it. You hear me? And I’m not going to join you in your ill-timed drinking. You can be stupid on your own.” ‘Ill-timed’ meaning they were only down at the beach for the football finals.

“Yes, eomma.” More sass from Chanyeol. A wet smack could be heard, followed by some whispering that sounded like scolding, and Chanyeol was quiet.

The jab at his mature attitude barely registered in Suho’s brain. He heard those types of things on an almost daily basis. He never felt bad for being responsible, though.

“What are we even going to do in here? There aren’t any girls to… hang out with.” Chen whined, laying his head back to look at the stars in frustration.

“We can talk about girls.” Xiumin offered, shrugging and looking down at his thin legs through the bubbly water.

“Like a bunch of gossiping hens?” Sehun rolled his eyes, not believing the rest of the team would go for it.

“Then you start, Xiumin hyung.” Baekhyun said, good-naturedly, and with a flourish of his arms in Xiumin’s direction. “Who are you thinking about in the shower after practice?”

Xiumin’s face reddened and he rubbed the back of his neck. He may have been the oldest, but he was the smallest, not in stature, but in attitude. “I was just suggesting something. I don’t-”

“Don’t try to tell us you’re not interested in anyone. Even water-boys have dicks.” Kai piped in, not caring that his hyung wasn’t the most confident boy.

“Guys-”

“It’ll be someone smart, since he’s smart.” Baekhyun mused, looking at Xiumin for confirmation. The other boy just nodded. Baekhyun’s smirk grew as he spoke again. “So why not the smartest girl in school, who happens to actually be kind of cute.” This last part came out of Baekhyun’s mouth awkwardly, because he didn’t see the appeal in Victoria, or any girls to be honest, but no one else needed to know that.

“Kind of cute?” Xiumin sputtered, forgetting about denying his crush. “Victoria Song is beautiful and smart. She’s perfect.” He quickly shut his mouth again, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the others’ reactions.

“So Xiumin’s jacking off to thoughts of Victoria Song bouncing on his dick.” Kai stated, his filter completely gone after drinking only a little bit before they even reached the hot tub.

Poor Xiumin was as red as blood, both from embarrassment and anger towards Kai. “Then what about you, Kai? We all know you’ve got multiple people on your mind.” he spit out, glaring across the hot tub at the younger boy.

“Oh, I can’t tell you. She doesn’t want anyone to know.” Kai answered.

“So you’re not just dreaming about someone. You have someone.” Chanyeol said, grabbing Kai’s shoulder and shaking him around a little. “Why doesn’t she want you to tell people? Is she embarrassed?”

“Is she cheating on someone else?” Suho asked, finally relenting and joining in on the gossip fest.

“No, she’s mine. She’s just really low-key. Doesn’t like having attention on her.” He looked around and picked their next victim. “What about you, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, somehow not seeing this coming. “I don’t know… I’m not really interested in any girls right now.” he said, being completely honest, but not making things too obvious. He was just saying there wasn’t a girl he was interested in, and the rest of the guys wouldn’t read too much into that. But Chanyeol started shifting beside him, nervous for no reason.

“Yeah, you do. Didn’t you say Sooyoung was cute?” Chanyeol blurted, his voice high-pitched enough for Baekhyun to notice, but no one else did.

Baekhyun wanted to roll his eyes, both because Chanyeol wanted to be sure people knew he liked someone that wasn’t Chanyeol, but also because he’d only expressed interest in Sooyoung once or twice. He wasn’t very serious about liking her at all, she was just someone he wanted to be attracted to because she was a girl, not another boy. “You remember that?” Baekhyun mumbled so only Chanyeol could hear. He didn’t get an answer.

Instead, Chanyeol offered himself up to become the next guy to bare it all. “I think Seohyun’s hot.”

“We all know that, Yeol.” D.O rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his drink. He looked over at Kai beside him, his cheeks pink, and not from the heat of the hot tub. D.O sighed and took the can Kai was holding out of his hand, placing it on the ground out of his reach.

“Kyungsoo hyung…” Kai whined, reaching over D.O to get his drink back. No one commented on the fact that Kai called D.O by his birth name, something he never let anyone get away with. He hated to be called Kyungsoo. Only Kai has ever been able to call him by his real name. And Kai never uses  
honorifics with D.O, another thing no one younger than him can do.

“No.” D.O shook his head, pushing him back to sit.

“It’s so hot out here. Why is it so hot?” Kai complained, fanning himself.

“You’re in a fucking hot tub, Jongin, of course it’s hot.” D.O said, rolling his eyes. “Just get out.” And D.O called Kai by his birth name as well.

Suho was looking at Kai with a stern look, but he didn’t say anything, confident D.O would do what he needed to do.

“Come on, Jongin, let’s go back up to your room. You must be tired.” D.O stood and got out of the hot tub, pulling Kai up by his muscular forearms into a standing position. “We’ve got practice in the morning.” This meant nothing to Kai, since all he could think about was how hot he felt.

It took almost five minutes for D.O to dry Kai off a little, to get him to stop sitting down on the wet ground, to walk him around the nearby pool and through the door to the elevators.

“Who gave him beer earlier?” Suho asked once they were gone, glaring at Chanyeol.

“I didn’t give it to him; he took it.” Chanyeol shrugged, obviously not feeling responsible. “I didn’t make him drink. That was his decision.”

“You shouldn’t have gotten in in the first place.” Suho said, shaking his head.

“Does anyone know who Kai was talking about?” Sehun asked, still thinking about the secret relationship Kai had been hiding from them.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I felt like if he wanted us to know, he’d say something, but I think I saw him with her the other day at school.” Lay spoke up, looking awkward and feeling bad for saying anything at all. “It’s not my place to tell who she is, though, so I shouldn’t have even brought it up.” he said, immediately regretting his words.

“Now you have to tell us.” Sehun said, floating over to where Lay was sitting, since D.O and Kai’s seats were empty. “Kai’s our friend, so we’re not going to say anything about it. Who’d you see him with, hyung?”

“That’s not my business. I won’t tell you. I’m sorry, Sehun.” Lay swatted at Sehun and got up and out of the hot tub. Drying himself off in a hurry and hurrying to the elevator. Sehun just followed him, determined to weasel the information out of his hyung.

“What time is it?” Chen suddenly asked, his eyes wide.

Xiumin looked at his phone. “Goodness. It’s getting late and we have to be up early. It’s ten thirty, Chen.”

“Shit.” Chen got out of the hot tub and nearly ran to the elevators, not stopping to dry himself off.

“Where are you going?” Suho called, confused.

“Tiffany said I could come up thirty minutes ago. I hope she’s not asleep…” he answered, disappearing through the door. “Wait, Lay!”

“I’m gonna head up, too.” Xiumin said, gathering his clothes and drying off on his way to the elevators.

In the hot tub, only three of them remained. Suho was already kind of ticked at Chanyeol for supplying the alcohol, so he didn’t speak. Baekhyun was thinking about Chanyeol, and Chanyeol was thinking about Baekhyun.

There was an awkward silence before Suho finally cleared his throat. “So, Baekhyun, you’ve been eyeing Sooyoung? She's a cheerleader, right?”

Baekhyun looked up, his eyes wide, and nodded quickly. “Yeah, she is."

Suho nodded, thinking about his own love life, which was pretty much non-existent. He was always so wrapped up in keeping the rest of the team in line that he didn’t really look at the girls at school. “Are you going to ask her out?”

“I don’t know. I’m kind of just… No, I don’t think I will.” he replied, not really knowing what to say. Wanting the attention to be on someone else, he said, “What about you, hyung? Do you like someone?”

“I’ve barely got time to socialize with anyone not on the football team, so I haven’t gotten the chance to-”

“I heard Tiffany likes you.” Chanyeol blurted.

“But I thought she and Chen were-”

“Nothing serious. You know the deal. I think he may really like her, but she doesn’t feel the same.” Chanyeol said, not looking up at either one of his hyungs.

“Well, I’m not going to go after someone that Chen has feelings for, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” Suho said, his face red. “Tiffany is really pretty and she’s nice enough, but I don’t think she’s my type in the first place. A little too… I guess she’s a little too self-consumed, if you ask me.”

Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol just nodded, glad Suho was making the conversation now.

“I mean, that’s just so selfish, keeping someone around just for... Are they doing it? Why would two people do it if they don’t actually care about the other in a romantic way?” Suho shook his head. “Chen may like Tiffany, but that doesn’t mean they should be… Ugh. I don’t know what to say.”

“But if both of them know it’s only for fun and nothing serious, isn’t that alright? As long as it’s agreed that it isn’t binding or anything, they’re fine.” Chanyeol said, his ears red.

“No, it’s still not right. And if we’re being honest, a deal like that isn’t always the most honest kind of thing. Two people don’t just have sex without feeling anything toward the other. It’s never just platonic. So Tiffany can say she doesn’t like Chen in that way all she wants; deep down, there’s some sort of attraction there.”

All three of them were quiet, Suho just thinking about how wrong Tiffany was for leading Chen on in such a way, and Chanyeol and Baekhyun thinking about how Suho would feel about what they were doing. More importantly, they were thinking about how they felt about what they were doing, wondering if the other felt the same way.

“Alright, guys, I think I’m gonna go up to my room. Don’t stay in too much longer.”

“We won’t, hyung.” Baekhyun nodded, smiling at Suho as he left the pool area.

“He’s wrong.” Chanyeol said, not looking at Baekhyun. “We’re fine.”

“Are we? I mean, I know we don’t like each other. We’re just ‘having fun’.”

“Right. We’re only fooling around. Nothing serious.” Chanyeol scoffed and elbowed Baekhyun. “You’re my best friend. We’re both guys. We like girls. Not each other.”

“Yeah. I know.” Baekhyun laughed, too, elbowing Chanyeol in return.

Yet, when they got out of the hot tub and made their way up to the room they shared with D.O and Sehun, they quietly pleasured each other, Baekhyun sucking Chanyeol off and Chanyeol fingering Baekhyun to completion. But they most definitely didn't actually _like_ each other. Never. Or, at least, they didn't think they would ever say it.


	6. Back to the Grind

There had been multiple practices over the summer, almost weekly even at the beginning of the summer. Football practice wasn’t the problem with going back to school. Nightly homework and seven to eight hours out of the day being spent in a boring building five days a week was the problem. Not to mention the social obligations the entire team had to put up with. Late nights fooling around weren’t going to happen often anymore, since the day had to start an hour or so before eight in the morning. There wouldn’t be anymore time to be alone once school started.

The thing that scared Baekhyun the most was the distraction of girls. He knew he wasn’t likely to get the hots for someone, but Chanyeol was a different story. As long as he’d known Chanyeol, his best friend had always been interested in dating someone, a girl to be specific, and since he’s gotten older, dating wasn’t something innocent anymore. Once he had a girl to fuck around with, Chanyeol wouldn’t need or want Baekhyun anymore. What he was afraid of was finding out that their summer of sex was exactly what they kept saying it was; for fun, nothing serious, a distraction.

He was also afraid that once their fooling around was over, they wouldn’t be able to go back to the way they were before. Not that he wanted to go back to being Chanyeol’s friend. He wanted Chanyeol as more than a friend.

“What are you thinking about, Baek?” Chanyeol asked, putting the car in park, but not turning it off completely.

Realizing he’d been spacing, Baekhyun shook his head quickly and started cracking some of his fingers nervously. “School starting again. The fact that it’s our last year here. All that bullshit.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ve got this feeling that something great will gonna happen this year.” Chanyeol replied, turning the key and killing the engine, as well as the background noise keeping the car from being completely silent.

So they sat there completely quiet, while the car heated up little by little in the summer sun. That is, until two sets of fists started pounding on the driver’s side window. Baekhyun jumped, Chanyeol laughing at his reaction. The giant didn’t stay to continue whatever it was they were doing, instead getting out of the car and starting up a conversation with Chen and Sehun.

Today was the day the football team were getting their senior pictures taken, as well as the team photo.

Baekhyun made his exit from the car as well, trying not to look scared to death. It was a well known fact amongst the team that he was easily frightened, so he didn’t want to make it look any worse.

“Can you believe summer’s almost over?” Chen was asking the other two guys, rolling his eyes at the thought of going back to school. He was a little annoyed, but Chen was usually pretty happy and chill no matter what, unless he’s feeling whiny. That’s just the kind of person he is.

“Dude, it flew by. Soon, we’ll be heading back to the grind of football practice, homework, and seven-hour school days.” Sehun groaned, pulling a hand through his currently blonde hair. He’d always liked it best this way. Once, they’d dared him to dye it in eighth grade, which started a football team tradition that’s morphed into a drawing from a hat. Before every game, each player draws a color from whatever container they’re pulling from. The color they draw is the color they must dye their hair.

“Don’t forget the girls.” Chanyeol added, smirking.

“Who’s it gonna be this year, Yeol?” Sehun laughed, elbowing Chanyeol.

“This year? I think that’s much too generous an amount of time.” Chen stated, beginning to walk toward the double doors of the school.

The four boys entered the gym atrium, where the photography company was already set up. The rest of the football team was inside, lounging around, waiting for the team photo mostly, since their individual pictures had already been taken.

Each one of them had to get three different pictures taken of themselves; one wearing the formal white shirt, black jacket, and bow tie, one wearing their cap and gown, and one in their football uniform.

Soon enough, it was Baekhyun’s turn to get his picture taken in the formal outfit. While standing there, waiting for the photographer to quit messing with his hair, to get the camera ready, he overheard a conversation going on behind him. Three of the other guys were talking, and, judging by their voices, they were D.O, Kai, and Chanyeol.

“Yeol, I don’t know if it’s just me,” Kai was saying. “But I feel like Baekhyun’s been acting weird for a while now.”

He couldn’t see Chanyeol’s face, but he could hear the slight nerves in his voice. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen it, too.” D.O agreed.

“Honey,” the photographer spoke, taking his attention away from eavesdropping. “I’ve got to get a new bulb for the flash. This one just popped.”

Baekhyun nodded, relaxing a little, and went back to listening to the other guys’ conversation.

“No, he’s fine. Believe me, I would know. We’re almost always together nowadays.”

“And why is that? Is something going on…?” D.O asked, suspicion in his tone. Or maybe Baekhyun was imagining it. “You know, like, something with his parents or whatever?”

“No, he’s just been really down about Hwasa.” Chanyeol replied, a bit too quickly.

“Okay, honey, would you look at the camera and smile, please?” The photographer was back and ready to capture the moment.

Baekhyun just put on his best face and tried to block out the feeling of dread he was getting about the coming school year.

**Author's Note:**

> AFF: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1474318  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/certkpopjunkie  
Next in the series: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1218120/when-things-get-complicated
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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